Police hunt for man who took boy from Rockland school

A man posing as a family friend picked up a 9-year-old from Memorial Park School and drove him around for about 25 minutes and then dropped him off in Abington.

Benjamin Paulin The Enterprise @benpaulin_ENT

ROCKLAND -- Police say a man picked up a 9-year-old boy near an elementary school on Tuesday afternoon and drove him around for 25 minutes before being dropped off in Abington.

Rockland Police Chief John Llewellyn said the incident may have been a "dry run" for a kidnapping or abduction.

The boy told police he was guided to a four-door sedan by a man who the boy believed was a friend of his father around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday near the Memorial Park School.

The man drove the boy around Rockland and Abington for about 25 minutes before telling him to get out of the car in the area of Lake Street in Abington, police said.

The boy was unharmed and walked to the Abington Police station after he was dropped off.

"We're concerned this may have been sort of a dry run for somebody that was considering an abduction or a kidnapping. However he was released unharmed about 30 minutes after he was taken," Llewellyn told WCVB.

Police said the man was not a friend of the boy's father, and when the father arrived at the school to get the boy, he alerted school officials and police that he was missing, according to WCVB.

The suspect was described by police as a white male with a thin build with white hair that was longer in the back than on the top. He was driving a white or gray four-door sedan that had white or silver wheels or hubcaps. A composite sketch of the kidnapper is expected to be released by police Wednesday afternoon.

The Rockland Police Department is asking anyone who was in the area of Memorial Park School Tuesday afternoon at dismissal time and noticed the vehicle or man to please call the Rockland Police Department Detective Division at 781-871-3890, ext. 122.

Also, police said, anyone who was in the area of Lake Street in Abington between 2:25 and 2:45 p.m. Tuesday and saw the man or vehicle to call the Rockland Police Detective Unit.

Police said officers in plain clothes will be stationed at Rockland schools Wednesday.